Food. Family. Fun

PEACH SALSA

I’ve made this salsa with nectarines and plums as well as with peaches and a variety of stone fruits, depending on what is in season, at the farmer’s market or available for U Pick. Its great with grilled pork chops, prawns, or rockfish.

INGREDIENTS

2 peaches, pitted and medium diced

1 firm and ripe red or yellow tomato, seeded and medium diced

1 firm and ripe tomatillo (optional), seeded and diced

1 firm and ripe avocado, diced

1/4 cup red onion, small dice

3 tablespoons fresh cilantro, minced

Juice of one ripe lime, about 2 tablespoons or to taste

1 TB honey

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste

Salt and ground black pepper to taste

METHOD

Place the fruit, tomato, tomatillo, onion, cilantro, lime juice, and red pepper flakes in a bowl; toss to blend.

Gently fold in diced avocado.

Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Cover. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes.

PEACHES, FRESH AND WARM

As perfect for dessert as for the main course, or for breakfast as for any meal, this recipe is easy, basic and equal parts rustic and elegant.

Simmer until the peaches are soft and tender, remove with a slotted spoon.

Reduce the leftover liquid slightly, to maximize the sweetness of the honey/juice/water mixture and to bring the flavors of vanilla and spices forward. Remove whole spices and use the reduction as a sauce for pie, ice cream, or grilled meats.

PEACH SIMPLE SYRUP

By Mike Archibald, Executive Chef, Herrington on the Bay A recipe I’ve used for various preparations throughout August and even into September with a variety of stone fruits, here Chef Mike Archibald uses his peach simple syrup recipe to make fresh Peach Soda. We love this recipe because its so fun and family friendly (Grilled Peach Ice Cream Floats anyone?) but can be made into an adult treat with just a dash of this or that.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups sugar

2 cups water

4 each, fresh peaches, pitted and roughly chopped

METHOD

In a saucepan, heat the sugar in the water until it dissolves.

Add the peaches and cook until the peaches are tender.

Using a blender or immersion blender, puree the mixture.

Pour through a mesh strainer to remove any pulp.

Peach soda made with peaches from Swann Farms in Calvert County, just across the line from Herrington on the Bay.

PEACH SODA

8 ounces crushed ice

3 ounces Peach Simple Syrup

5 ounces club soda

fresh peach slices for garnish.

METHOD

Put the ice in a 16 ounce chilled glass.

Pour the cooled simple syrup and soda over the ice. Stir. Garnish with the fresh peach slices and a fresh herb like lemon verbena, lemon thyme, pineapple sage or mint.

*While Chef Mike Archibald didn’t include a hit of gin, vodka or bourbon, we think these would work nicely here.

PEACH UPSIDE DOWN CAKE

Based loosely on my grandma’s pineapple upside down cake, this dessert has a cake with a light crumb, vanilla flavor, slight, not cloying sweetness, and those sugary, hot, delicious baked peaches!

To make the topping: Melt the butter in a sauce pan or the microwave. Mix in the brown sugar, turbinado, syrup or honey, vanilla and honey. Spoon the mixture into the prepared 9” cake pan.

Space the peach slices on top of the sugar mixture. If you need to go retro, you can place a fresh or maraschino cherry decoratively around the peach slices, in a pattern. If you’re using nuts, scatter them in any spaces.

To make the cake:

Beat the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg, then the salt, baking powder, almond and vanilla.

Add the milk and yogurt, sour cream or buttermilk. Loosely blend.

Add the flour, about 1/3 cup at a time, blending gently to not overwork the flour and scraping down the bowl as needed.

Spoon the thick batter over the peaches, making sure to get it to the edge of the pan. It make not fully cover the fruit, but that is fine, they will bake together.

Bake 30 to 35 minutes, until a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.

Remove the cake from the oven, wait 5 minutes, then turn the pan over onto a serving plate. Wait 30 seconds to a minute more, then lift the pan off. If anything sticks in the pan, just lift it out and place it back on the cake.

Serve warm or at room temperature. My family loves it with fresh whipped cream. This cake overnights well and is perfect for a picnic…or breakfast….brunch…a gift…..

BOURBON PEACH COBBLER

One of my readers, Barbara Pease, turned me on to this delicious cobbler originated by Tyler Florence of The Food Network, which I have tweaked a little and play with depending on what’s at the market, in the fridge or on my mind.

In a large bowl, add the peaches, bourbon, ¼ cup sugar, cornstarch, spices, vanilla and lemon. Toss to mix well, coating the peaches evenly. Set aside. Can be made in advance and refrigerated, but only for a short time before the fruit releases its juice and starts to turn color. Releasing the juices isn’t necessarily a bad thing—make sure to keep them in the final cobbler preparation.

Prepare the cobbler: Sift together the flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add 1 ½ sticks cubed butter to the flour mixture and cut it in with a pastry blender, a few (10-15) pulses in the food processor or with your hands until the mixture looks like coarse breadcrumbs or peas. Add the yogurt or cream and mix just until the dough comes together. Don’t overwork; the dough should be slightly sticky but manageable.

In a 10-inch cast iron skillet over medium-low heat, melt the remaining butter. Add the fruit mixture and cook gently until heated through, about 5 minutes. Drop the dough by mounded spoonfuls over the fruit. Brush the top of the cobbler drops (also called dumplings) with heavy cream and sprinkle with white or turbinado sugar. Place the cast iron pan on a baking sheet to catch any drips that might overflow. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes until the top is browned and the fruit is bubbling.

There’s a reason peaches are mentioned alongside terms of endearment, in honeyed words of sweet sentiment – even, dare I say, amidst flights of juicy rapture. So round, so soft, so beautifully colored and sensuously textured, the peach is so delectable a summer treat that in 2015, it earned its own emoji ????. That emoji is evocative. Provocative. Imaginative. It is, actually, an apropos ambassador for peach as sweet fruit, as opposed to peach as socio-cultural icon (ahem Kardashians).

While a just-picked peach is a sort of luscious, juice-dripping down-your-hand-and-arm kind of summer dream best lingered upon because you know the moment and the season are fleeting, a hot-from-the oven peach cobbler with homemade whipped cream is like pure August sunshine with mellifluously floating clouds all around. A peach pie is like God’s gift to anyone lucky enough to live in that wide latitudinal swath from Penticton, Canada in the north and west to Atlanta in the south and east. And of course, while I can’t advocate for eating peaches before July or after September, canned peaches in winter are a lesson in romance amplified by nectar as nourishing to the soul as any soup.

While Maryland lies inside that great band of American farmland ideally suited to growing peaches—the trees need hot summers, mild winters, and safety from spring frost—it isn’t the most prolific crop grown in the state, a statistic owned by apples. Nevertheless, Maryland is home to almost 1,000 acres of peach orchards owned by 105 commercial farmers who last year harvested nearly 7 million pounds of the fruit.

Swann Farms

Swann Farms is a 300-acre operation in northern Calvert County. While much of the farm’s land is devoted to sweet corn, twenty acres are used for growing a variety of peaches. Joe-Sam Swann and his family took over the farm when his father, Allen “Sambo” Swann, a fifth-generation farmer, passed in 2016. A fulltime farmer, Sambo, alongside his Uncle Bid and nephew Jody, made a success out of a farm that was –way back in colonial times when valuable land in Maryland was largely used to grow tobacco– given to a Tasker daughter, the youngest of seven children, surely a nod to her place in the family line up and her role as a female. Situated along the Patuxent River, the farm has light and sandy soil that drains quickly. Not great for tobacco, and in those times considered poor land for farming. With a little love and some modern irrigation, Swann’s agricultural inheritance is great for peaches.

photo courtesy Swann Farm by photographer Edwin Remsberg

Joe-Sam says Sambo worked tirelessly on the farm, almost to a fault. But it’s Sambo’s, Bid’s and Jody’s endless toil, along with Joe-Sam’s contemporary farming methods and his wife’s marketing skills, that make those 20 acres famous for peaches that are sold wholesale to places like the Anne Arundel County Public School system, Whole Foods Market and Harris Teeter, as well as to caterers committed to supporting local farmers, such as owner Anna Chaney and Executive Chef Mike Archibald at Herrington on the Bay.

Peaches take an extraordinary amount of work to bring to market. It takes two months alone of pruning in the bitter cold of February just to get the trees ready for bloom. Springtime means frost danger: the peach tree’s gorgeous pink blooms, heralds of deliciousness to come, can be wiped out overnight with one windstorm, one snow fall, one late frost. Last year, Swann Farm’s eight orchards, all with trees between seven and twenty years old, lost three entire plant varieties to a freeze; luckily, they managed to harvest more than 3000 bushels of other types. Then there is, of course, the picking and packing. Consumers want peaches at the peak of ripeness. Unlike many other fruits, peaches can be picked just short of peak ripeness. They won’t grow any larger or denser, but they will ripen off the tree. Even at this stage of almost-but-not-quite though, their skin is delicate, their flesh susceptible to bruising. It’s the policy of Swann Farms to send fruit to market within 24 hours of picking. “But still, its like threading the needle”, says Joe-Sam. “To get as close to ripe without going too soft.”

This year Swann Farms is opening their peach orchard to the public as a U Pick operation. The farm is already an established and popular site for U Pick strawberries. Three to four hundred people a day fill the six acres of farmland given over to that crop. “We’ve had such tremendous success with strawberries, so we are excited about opening up the peach orchards. We really enjoy having people down to the farm. It helps our customers understand how we produce foods they love and it provides transparency into our growing practices”, says Joe-Sam. You can check the Swann Farm Facebook page for updated information on picking times.

Regardless of color (peaches are generally yellow, blushed pink or tones of red), the fruit’s skin should have an even color all over. There shouldn’t be any green or white near the stem. The flesh should be firm but give to slight pressure. And of course, you should be able to breathe in that delicious, memorable peachy scent. When you take your peaches home, if you are going to use them right away, put them in the fridge. A not-quite-ripe peach might last on the counter for two to three days, but should be refrigerated to enjoy at its best. If you pick a peach that isn’t quite ripe, put it on the counter at room temperature for a couple of days, put it in a paper bag with the top rolled down, or if you must, use it for jams, jellies, canning and baking.

Editor’s note: Our area has many good doctors who are well educated on Celiac Disease and Gluten Allergies. Check with Anne Arundel Medical Center (contact Anne Caldwell). If you think your child is suffering from Celiac Disease or an allergy, you may want to talk to Dr. Rebecca Vickers, of Arundel Pediatricswho specializes in childhood treatments. I highly recommend her.

Photo Courtesy of Tricia King

Tricia King was a professional pastry chef long before she opened her Gluten Free Bakery Girl cafe and wholesale bakery in Easton, Maryland. You may have seen her tarts, cookies, breads and other baked goods at Tastings Gourmet Market, Bean Rush Café, Leeward Market, City Dock Coffee and other spots around AA and Talbot Counties.

I recently caught up with her to learn more about her passion for food and her new business adventures. In between you can see some of her mouth watering creations.

Gluten Free Bakery Girl Cinnamon Rolls photo by William Wilhelm

FFF: So it seems like everyone is on the Gluten Free train lately.

Recently I overheard a parent insist their child had a dangerous gluten free allergy. Then she brought in a dairy free pie for the kids that had a typical wheat crust.

I also had a friend run out to get “Gluten Free” frosting for her cupcakes. FROSTING IS GLUTEN FREE! Its powdered sugar and butter!!

I feel like this is a fad that has gotten out of control because either people who do have a serious condition won’t be taken seriously, or people who are hyped about the marketing are forgoing nutritious whole grains for rice flour.

So lets talk about exactly what “Gluten Free” means:

GFBG: Gluten is a protein found in wheat, rye, barley, spelt, even modified food starch. Basically anything related to wheat or made from wheat, including couscous, pasta and Ferro. Celiac disease prevents the digestive system from processing wheat proteins. The body starts to physically reject the unprocessed food. The small villi that line the intestine become damaged and nutrients can’t be absorbed into the body. The patient eventually suffers from severe malnutrition.

Gluten intolerance–Crohns disease, Lyme’s Disease, or Irritable Bowel Syndrome–causes inflammation in the body which usually presents as stomach pain, rashes, migraines, swelling and other arthritis-like symptoms. There is no miracle cure for these conditions, but research has shown that when patients eliminate gluten, it prevents little problems like aches and pains from becoming big problems like persistent migraines.

I want to provide people who suffer from gluten allergies a safe and delicious alternative for all those foods they wish they could eat, but sadly can’t.

FFF: You had a successful career at The Inn at Perry Cabin in St. Michaels. Why open a Gluten Free Bakery? That’s a pretty specific business model.

GFBG: So I know gluten sensitivities exist and I know the only way to address them is to go completely gluten-free. Some Celiac patients can’t have even a drop of gluten without getting seriously sick. But we all want cookies and cakes and good bread. I wanted to use my pastry experience to make delicious treats for all my customers.

I started practicing, developing recipes, and eventually got into farmers markets in Kent Island, Annapolis and Easton. I came about my shop at the Easton Market Square and the wholesale side of the business serendipitously because Lehr Jackson, who owns the building, agreed to help me build a completely gluten free kitchen so that I could have a clean baking space and expand my business beyond the sandwich shop.

I just have a strong sense that this is what I should be doing. I do the wholesale because I can introduce new items frequently and I have control over the manufacturing. I personally bake, package, and deliver. I don’t have any wastage and my customers have happy customers. That makes me feel good.

Gluten Free Bakery Girl Brownies. Courtesy Photo

FFF: Some businesses claim to have Gluten Free products but are actually selling contaminated goods because they have been shelved near or even touched conventional goods. This mis-labeling is such a peeve of mine. How do you maintain quality gluten free standards?

GFBG: No gluten whatsoever passes my threshold. There are no other bakers in the building. I do this for people that have celiac so I have to make sure there is no contamination at all. I am working to get an official gluten free certification. It is very expensive. Every single product I use is routinely tested to guarantee the certification. I never order gluten free mixes—everything I sell is completely from scratch.

FFF: What do you recommend for home bakers who want to go Gluten Free?

GFBG: For me it works great to make my own baking mixes, but for the home baker it means you have to buy 10 different flours and they are not cheap.

I really like Bobs Red Mill All Purpose Gluten Free Flour, which you can find at many area stores, or Cup 4 Cup, which is at Williams Sonoma. Watch out for mixes with Garbanzo Bean or Fava Bean flour or the mix called Garfava flour: these have a very beanie flavor which I only like when I eat hummus!

Scoop in to greased Teflon cupcake pan for individual serving or a loaf pan, or cake pan depending on the size you are wanting.

Bake at 350 for about 30 min for cupcakes turn out and scoop sticky toffee sauce over.

To serve: if cold, reheat cake and sauce. Place in bowl pour generous amount of sauce over cake and pour cream over top and serve .

Potato Leek Gruyere Rustic Tart

For the tart dough

Bobs Red Milk Crust Mix

follow bag directions to make the tart dough. Chill

Ingredients

4 red skin potatoes, boiled

6 oz of Gruyere, cut into chunks

2 small leeks, chopped and sautéed

2 eggs

2 tb of cream

Prepare as noted, place in a bowl and toss together.

To make the tart

Roll out dough the chilled dough

With a 6″ pastry round cutter cut out 6 rounds of dough. Place on cookie sheet with parchment between to stop sticking. Chill for 10-15 min.

On a floured surface set tart round down then add filling to center. Fold dough around the outer edge making a rustic pie-like tart. Place on parchment lined cookie sheet.

Bake for 20 min at 350.

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Meet Diana

I live on the East Coast, but I am a West Coast girl at heart! My family is full of crazy, wild women who live life to the fullest, and I am proud to follow in their footsteps. Did I mention I love to travel? We never sit for too long and are eager to share with you all we know about our adventures. We are always on the hunt for cool, hip artisans and entrepreneurs who like to share their fresh, local ideas and products. Join me to forage for a more flavorful life! Read More…

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